All Activity

I got the first two DNA sets for the Studio Series Constructicons, might as well get the third. This is DK-72, for Scavenger and Mixmaster. This set contains four new arms, a bumper, some shoes, and (of course) the final two bugles. Starting with Scavenger, Just pull his entire stock arms off the ball joints in his shoulders. The new arms pop right onto the ball joint. The new arms don't function any differently, really, than the stock arms. The big difference is that they've got built in filler parts on the inside of the biceps and a new flap over the hand-hole. There is one other minor difference, but we'll get to that in a bit. The shoes are for Scavenger as well, and they work exactly like Bonecrusher's. Fold his toes down, slide them into the gaps in the shoes, and plug the pegs on the shoes into the ports on the bottoms of his heels. As was the case with Bonecrusher, I do appreciate that they give Scavenger more cartoon-accurate feet. It kind of irks me that the new Studio Series Constructicons are supposed to be more '86 movie accurate, but instead of actually copying the Sunbow designs (or, in Scavenger's case, even the G1 toy) they (that is, Takara, I think) basically said, "our Generations Constructicons were pretty good, let's just do those in a different scale." Scavenger's feet were never supposed to just be the ends of his treads. Unfortunately, while Bonecrusher's new arms and shoes fixed his proportions, Scavenger's biggest proportional issue is his massive pelvis. Which DNA didn't fix. Scavenger's bugle is the sort that has a gap in the handle that c-clips around his fist. Since Scavenger's new arms have flaps, you have to open them up, fold the fists in, and then close the flap instead if simply folding the fists in. Transformation is otherwise the same, except you have the shoes to partsform. The new arms, which form most of the back of the alt mode, have little tabs on them. The tabs plug into the bottom of the shoes, so the shoes sit on the back of the excavator. It's not particularly elegant... I think it's less-well integrated than Bonecrusher's... but it's something. But the real rub is that they don't have anywhere else to go in combined mode, either. Keeping them around means giving Devastator a big purple tumor on his right shoulder. The other set of arms in this set are for Mixmaster. You don't have to replace his entire arm. Just slide everything from the bicep swivel down off of the mushroom peg, then slide the new arms into place. At first glance, there isn't a ton of difference between the new arms and the stock ones, save for a little less detail on the forearm. Next up, we have the new bumper. Split it in half, and each half pegs int the stock bumper on the back of Mixmaster's leg. Which... really does nothing for robot mode. So what, then, was the point? The new arms have two advantages, though only one makes a difference in robot mode. His elbows are now double-jointed, increasing their range from a mere 90 degree bend to a full 180 degrees. There's his bugle... which looks more like the fart gun from Despicable Me than a bugle. What was DNA thinking here? They went to all the trouble to make six unique molds for the bugles, but Scrapper's was the only cartoon-accurate one. Why not just do Scrapper's six times? Anyway, there's a 5mm post on the bottom of Mixmaster's bugle, so he can hold it like an actual gun, or there's a 5mm post on the rear so he can hold it more like a bugle. As is often the case with the new DNA arms, he now possesses a flap that opens for his hand to fold in when transforming. It doesn't do a ton for his truck mode. In fact, leaving his fist partially out gives him a place to plug in his bugle. Meanwhile, the new bumper looks ok. It's a bit more "heavy duty" than the stock bumper. But it's also not cartoon accurate, so I'm not sure what's the point here. The best thing about this kit, specifically the new arms for Mixmaster, comes in his combined mode. The new bumper gives Devastator a toe, which actually is something he had in the cartoon. I almost wish DNA had leaned harder into it; instead of giving him a bigger bumper meant to stay on in all modes, they could have given a green panel that covered the entire grill with a big green toe on it, make the foot look even more like the (bad) Sunbow art. It's the arms that really shine. The stock arms just kind of hung off the back of Devastator's legs, with the fists showing (another unfortunately holdover from the Generations toy). On the new arms, not only do the fists fold away, but since the new elbows are double-jointed they can curl all the way up where they actually tab in place, which cleans up the leg mode quite a bit. When I started reviewing my latest batch of DNA kits a few weeks ago I told you that DNA can be very hit or miss. So it was almost inevitable that after two Constructicon kits I do recommend we'd wind up with one more that I don't. I'm just not sure there's enough value here. Scavenger's new arms are basically the old ones with some gap fillers and tabs for the shoes, and while the shoes are more cartoon-accurate than his stock feet they make his alt mode and combined mode worse. Meanwhile, the kit does not address Scavenger's pelvis, which was his real issue. Mixmaster's new bumper isn't cartoon accurate in any mode, and is kind of pointless. The only reasons to get this kit at all are to complete DNA's set of not-at-all-accurate bugles, and Mixmaster's new arms. They actually do help clean up his leg mode in a meaningful way. Is it meaningful enough, though, to justify the entire kit? Although that was my main reason for buying the kit (and the fact that I needed to hit the threshold for free shipping, otherwise my shipping costs would have been nearly as much as this kit), I think the answer is probably no.

So, kind of the same thing.

Star Wars is not just worn, it is a broken universe!😁 @TangledThorns That is a memorable way to find out the Big Secret. Other than the one that aliens are not among us...

This was what I was getting at. I’d put Riobot at about $100, if that, however. Mine had terrible QC issues out of the box: I bought mine new and had one come apart at the knee before its first transformation.

Hey All, Not great at posing but has anyone been able to get the pose from the end of DYRL to work on a 1/48 Bandai DX? Similar to the example below... Thanks!

Legioss Alpha is available for pre-order @ Amazon JP.

Just found out about them a few days ago ;

Two things. They are tauntauns. You spelled them the same way (ton-ton) my mother did in her hand writing as Santa Claus apologizing in a letter to me on Christmas Day 1980 that he couldn't get me a "ton-ton". And that is how I learned there was no Santa Claus 🎅 I ended up crafting a tauntaun out of card board paper till I got a real Kenner toy the next year for my birthday. True story, lol.

Those are very different toys. The Riobot is basically perfect transformation. I like them both but they scratch different itches. It does feel like the Riobot belongs at $150 and the Moshow $200 based purely on mass though.

I can’t believe that the Riobot Cyclone is/has been selling for ~$200 USD when I was able to pick up MoShow’s cyclone for the same price. https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/product/genesis-climber-mospeada-riobot-vr-038l-bartley-fuke-type-1_12-scale-figure-94727?variation=184788 https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/product/robotech-new-generation-yr-052f-cyclone-figure-set-146386?variation=290464

Apparently it just hovers..? But needs to be pulled.. makes absolute sense..! Maybe it broke

The leftmost one definitely has two. I have a question of my own, though... there are no runners on that sled. Did the LucasFilm art department forget to model them or is Mando completely unnecessarily having a bunch of animals draw a powered hovercraft?

I've thought about getting the Countach, too. Like most of the icons sets, it's done beautifully. I can easily recommend the Shelby Cobra- great build experience and gorgeous model. Every success with your Enterprise mods. I like Star Trek, and Next Generation is my favorite of the various series (TBF, I've not seen any of the new shows on streamers, although I wouldn't mind seeing Picard at some point); however, I have no interest in getting the set. I've never really been a fan of ST ship designs (except the Klingon Bird of Prey- I like that one), and besides, I've nowhere to display the thing if i did get it, and it's definitely a display piece. That's also why my 2nd UCS Millennium Falcon remains unbuilt in its box years after I bought it- nowhere to put it when I'm done. Nowhere to comfortably build it, for that matter.

Thanks for the heads up. I figured it had to be really soon with all the promo pics. Wish o could afford multiples though so I could have masked and unmasked

They don’t need the other leg when they’re just for snooze time.

That’s the name we gave to the cat’s farts when he was gassy because of some antibiotics he was taking a few weeks ago. The only time I can remember ever hearing that from a cat, but the medicine was bugging him and it would make a wheezing whisper sound, but smelled like rotten eggs. Couldn’t believe such a smell could come from the lil guy, and all we had for a warning was the whisper

Somehow missed the green guy going up on HLJ but got the original and this one POed now.

@Chas I remember this one! Glad to see this monster is back on the table!

Preorders go up on 3/13.

I remember seeing an update somewhere that the A-Action range has been cancelled, which honestly isn't that surprising considering the intended prices.

Finally caved and picked up the Countach from Walmart since they had a stack of them. Going to probably burn my VIP points on a pair of the Enterprise sets once they get over the stock issues. Maybe having two sets will give me enough parts to rebuild the saucer into something that doesn't look like a mid-90s polygon model. Though, funny enough, I feel like the "All Good Things" upgrade might actually be a solid improvement, since the lower phaser mount might help cover some of the janky shaping of the underside.

Is it me, or are all the Ton-tons missing one leg..?

Decided to go with Whisper.